Guatemala - Day 2 - First Day in Guatemala

Excerpt from Journal:

I am utterly exhausted, but trying to write because I want to capture how I’m feeling in the moment. I think the one word to sum up today would be stressed. But it’s a very different type of stress than what I’m used to dealing with. My mind is constantly processing what is being said because of the Spanish. I also feel like I have to stay at the top of my game and manage my attitude because I’m not here for me – I’m here for the kids.

Today I was really dehydrated and was getting a headache. I asked for water and they told us to get back on the bus, that we would get some. The Chapines started telling a story about an American girl who went to the dump and then started the Safe Passage Foundation. Sandra was pouring everyone water at the front of the bus so I tried to pass my water bottle up like the others were doing, but Chris told me to wait. My attitude instantly plummeted because I was uncomfortable. It didn’t help that we were sitting three to a seat and my ass was half hanging off of the bench for over an hour. My back hurt soooo bad by the time we got to where we were going. Plus, the bus was hot and all the windows were down to keep us cooled off - so the wind was blowing my hair around (which I hate). I was trying to get conversations started between the US and Guatemalan students, which took a lot of work.

Guatemala City Dump

We went to the garbage dump today, which was worse than I expected, but not much. Some of the sad things that I learned were that many children were killed there on accident because their mothers are working there.It contains many hazardous and bio hazardous wastes because they don’t try and address those things here – they don’t have the infrastructure. 

River Valley Slowly Being Filled

The saddest thing to me is that the place where the dump is located was chosen because it is a very deep valley in the middle of the city. It was where a very mighty river once formed (and now a desecrated and toxic one does). They just keep filling in more and more of the river valley. Que horrible! I’m trying to think of an equivalently sized valley as an example back home. I'm picturing the Nisqually River Valley as you wind around on the way up to Mount Rainier.

People Sorting Through Trash

The other strange thing was the juxtaposition of the cemetery and the dump. They almost fed into one another. The graves (not sure what the official name is for them) are similar in shape to those in cemeteries in New Orleans. These seemed to be much more varied. There were some where you could tell no one had visited in years and years – the stone all crumbling and the glass dirty and broken (even some of the big ones). Others looked more like a modern shrine. Some were absolutely beautiful.

This seems a very poor country overall. I haven’t seen much that would point me to where the money is, other than Guatemala City where they had modern office buildings. It is around 4 million people.

Our home stay family is WAY too nice. They make us all homemade food that take hours and don’t let us help. They are very gracious and I find myself saying “thank you” and “very good” way too much. I need to look up a lot more Spanish words but I’m so tired. I just set my alarm to 7:00am. It’s is 9:11pm and I am going to sleep.

Wishing my love a good night. I hope things are well with her and Ginger. Since it’s Saturday, I will miss falling asleep on the couch with her. Besos mi amor.

Thoughts on this entry:

What a complainer I am! Ok, so you're uncomfortable - get over it! I know I recorded what I was feeling this day because I was so surprised by my negative reaction, though. It's usually pretty hard to get me upset (unless you know how to push my buttons) and can keep a good attitude through more than the average person. For some reason, this tested me more than I expected.

Looking back, I'm also surprised that I was writing about my reaction before I even wrote about some of the bigger things that happened that day. Especially the fact that I said the saddest thing was the destruction of the river. Those who know me know that over the last year and a half, I've been making great strides in putting people before objects - even environmental objects like life giving river. In my exhaustion - this is what I recorded. Knowing that things (objects, feelings, relationships) only have the meaning that I assign them makes me realize I have some more work to do with where I place value.

Picturing the cemetery and the dump now, it's almost as if the dead had been laid to rest in just such a place so that it was easily only a matter of time until they slid into the filth slowly filling the river valley. So sad.